Juilus Narvineous
Juilus was the last Narvineous King of Berma, and the first and last Emperor of Berma. He was most known for the Berman War and the major conflict he helped cause in Avalot in 655 AU. Background Juilus was born in 573 AU to the current King of Berma, Daniel Narvineous and his wife Queen Beatrice Narvineous. Juilus was actually the fourth son born to the King and was never expected to be next in line, considering his brothers were far older and better trained. As such, Juilus spent much of his early life learning from his mother whom he had a strong bond with. However, tragedy struck in the Seventh Barbarian Invasion in 583 AU. During the siege on Goldrok, Juilus's father and all his brothers died at the hands of the attacking Westwardens. Though their sacrifice had made the city safe, this also made Juilus the immediate King of Berma, a role he was not prepared for. With his mother acting as surrogate ruler until he came of age, Juilus was forced to grow up quickly in order to become the King his people needed him to be after such a crisis. History Juilus had inherited all of Berma's problem, in addition to the throne upon his eighteenth birthday. While Juilus offered no solutions to the problems of economy and war Berma faced, he did manage to maintain the status quo which was more than anyone could ask for. In 594 AU, he met the wonderful Feona Black of the Black Castle and married her shortly thereafter. In 596 AU, he had his first child, a son by the name of Jamie. He lived happily with his growing family in Goldrok for a time until the death of his mother from sickness in 602 AU. Further tragedy would strike when Juilus's wife also contracted the disease while pregnant with his second child. In 603 AU, despite putting up a valelent fight, Feona passed away shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Beatrice. Juilus was a loving father to his children and was especially proud of them. While Jamie was practically a genius a a young age, Beatrice was kind and beloved by all in the kingdom. When he came of age, Jamie helped his father manage the kingdom through foreign affairs proving to be especially skillful at diplomacy. Despite his clear skills in the field, Jamie became bored with the outside world and shut himself in the Golden Citadel, much to the dismay of Juilus. The King would attempt to coax his son to pursue other interests outside his room, to no avail. It wasn't until 621 AU that Jamie took an interest in a young woman from Black Mark named Benny Finn. Together, Jamie and Benny worked to convince his father not to accept the aid of the rising noble, Arl Reed Howell, whom had the tempting offer of a mountain of gold to bring to Berma. After a long while, the pair succeeded in ruining Howell's platform and were on the verge of victory until the Eighth Barbarian Invasion occurred and destroyed their home base in Black Mark. Enraged by the lack of promised aid by Juilus, Benny took the remainder of her followers and assassinated Howell in front of Juilus at a major celebration for the start of the new year of 623 AU. When Juilus ordered Benny's execution, his son attempted to intervene and revealed himself as the main conspirator behind the attack. Benny was killed and Jamie fled Goldrok, with Juilus forced to pursue him and bring him to justice to save face. Despite both his ministers and the people demanding it, Juilus couldn't kill his son and replaced him with a body double, allowing the Prince to escape Berma. The attack did result in the Berman army gaining gunpowder, however. The Berman War Distraught by the betrayal of his son, Juilus completely deferred to the advisement of his ministers for guidance. Convinced that gunpowder could fuel their small army, Juilus met with the barbarian forces who had just turned south to invade Goldrok. The battle was a massacre, with the Westwardens turning tail and running before 623 AU was even over. The strength of these new weapons were proven and the ministers wanted more power. Marveled at the strength his army now possessed, Juilus was only too happy to agree and proposed invading the southern nation of Farqual in a bid for more land. In 625 AU, the Berman War had begun. Using rifles, Juilus was easily able to conquer the city of Briggham with a mere 5,000 men. Confident now in his leadership, Juilus declared himself to be an Emperor and annexed all of Farqual into Berman control. As if mad from his new power, he took to challenging the greatest power in the world at the time, Avalot, by invading their territory. In the open fields, the Berman army was crushed instantly until they managed to retreat to the Baltic Hills. His bravado had gone out the window, and Juilus had to maintain his faraway army or risk losing all he had conquered. With the Farqual nobles all wishing for his downfall, Juilus was forced to fully commit all his nation's resources into fueling his war machine. By 630 AU, the war was going badly for both sides with thousands of men dead in the Hills. Juilus was struggling to look for a way to end the war safely without losing face and thankfully his chance came when King Alric approached him with a truce. Juilus and Alric met at Mayford to discuss the terms of the accord. Eventually, they both agreed to unite their countries and Juilus offered up his daughter for marriage to Alric. Juilus was seen as a hero to his people, bringing them into one of the strongest alliances the Eastern Territories had ever seen. Escalation and Death Unfortunately, shortly after the war, the problems that had cropped up before the gunpowder had been discovered. Juilus was forced to deal with famine and grew more in debt to Avalot whom he relied upon with trade. When Alric began to lower the amount of exports Berma was allowed to apply for, Juilus resorted to underhanded techniques to gather supplies, even relying on the Black Market for trade. Because the gunpowder was such a powerful commodity for trade, Juilus was able to earn enough trade with the more unsavory thugs of the world. But it simply wasn't enough to stave off his people's suffering for long. One particular nasty trading event in Avo resulted in a shipment of gunpowder exploding in 633 AU resulted in a strained relationship between the alliance. Despite the growing distrust, the relationship remained intact for twenty years thanks to the marriage of Alric and Beatrice. Berma was slowly decaying economically and Juilus was almost forced to completely market the gunpowder, the very thing that made their feared and mysterious in the eyes of outside nations. But in 655 AU, Alric Dacre was assassinated and the Court of Nobles was thrown into turmoil. Thanks to letters from his daughter, Juilus quickly made for Avo to seize the opportunity this death represented. Allying himself with Jop Carnell and using rifles to scare the populace of Avo, Juilus succeeded in becoming the obvious choice for the election in Court to succeed Alric. Unfortunately, his presence in Avalot had shaken up the capital far too much and Juilus was forced to deal with riots in the streets from the common folk angry at his abuse with rifles. In one bad situation, he and Beatrice were both shot by Radolf Maynard's men in an attempt on their lives. The solution to this problem he proposed was to burn the entire lower district with oil, pouring the substance down the sewers so it would spread to all corners of the Pit, or the worst area of Avo. While this tactic worked for some time, Count Lance Wymund, thought to be dead, succeeded in sparing most of the commoners and led them to safety with the plan for one final revolt against the nobility. At a masquerade party, which Juilus had thrown in celebration, the King of Berma murdered by Wymund while gloating over the effects power had on a ruler. His body tumbled to the ground and ceased the impending riot, for a time. Legacy The actions taken by Juilus in Avalot had damned Berma into being vulnerable towards the Westwardens in the Ninth Barbarian Invasion. With no allies, Berma was easily conquered by Hysaph Jaric and people cursed Juilus, blaming his legacy for their misfortune. Argus Verze, the future Prime Minister of the Court of Nobles, and Kenneth Deshotel both held King Juilus as the lowest standard of ruling. Both men vowed never to use his tactics of maintaining order nor stoop so low while they remained in office. Both Juilus and Beatrice's death in 655 AU marked the end of the Narvineous family lineage in the Berman monarchy until the return of his grandchildren. Personality Before his son Jamie's betrayal, Juilus was seen as a kind king who was forced to do terrible things given the circumstances he was in. Above all, he loved his family and was heartbroken at their loss over the course of his life. He may have been a poor king in the eyes of his people, but he was an excellent family man when he still had a family to support. He also cared deeply about his people and his country, and was willing to do terrible things to protect them both.